


give me empathy

by wordlycrisis



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Empath Lena, F/F, Lena obtains powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-11 09:17:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11711421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordlycrisis/pseuds/wordlycrisis
Summary: Lena, in a laboratory accident, finds herself with abilities she doesn't quite understand. How she finds relief from being unable to control them is sealed by destiny, a destiny she sees in a dream the very same day.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy :)

Lena liked to pretend she was a regular L-Corp employee sometimes. Except her version of normal consisted of going down to the R&D lab to work on her inventions outside of normal hours. Sometimes those hours would go a little too long and the actual R&D employees would come in, but no one seemed to notice her.

Maybe it was the hoodie, or the sunglasses (who wears sunglasses inside at night?), or even the casual getup as a whole.

On this particular night, Lena was working on something she had found in the archives. It had been filed under a name she was all too familiar with, Lex Luthor. It was the last experiment left behind from his escapades with the company. She wanted to figure it out, understand what it would have done, and she expected it to be some sort of weapon. She entered a code into the lockbox that held the experiment and took a step back when the box hissed. All four sides and the roof of the box fell away, revealing what was being housed inside. It was a glass tank, and in the centre, a… brain?

She carefully lifted the top of the glass tank and placed it on the bench. Her hood fell off her head and the cool air of the lab hit her face, causing her to shiver. With her hands in gloves, she reached in to extract the brain to further examine it, and the moment she touched it, she jumped back, having been somewhat zapped by the organic tissue. Lena was puzzled as to how a brain in a tank, with no electric connections, had an electric response to her touch. Especially through rubber gloves.

Lena examined her gloved hands, and saw the glove on her right hand had a small hole on the underside of her index finger. She put the glass lid back on and secured the lockbox, abandoning it on the bench in favour of a quarantine chamber. She punched in a code and stepped inside. A vapour poured in from the vents and the potent smell of chemicals invaded her senses. After approximately 5 minutes the vapour cleared and the quarantine chamber unlocked. Lena figured that because she felt no different and the quarantine had run successfully, that she had escaped the event side-effect free. She approached the bench one more time. Only this time, she noticed a label on one side of the lockbox.

_SUPER-BRAIN_

“How original.” She scoffed, glad her brother had been locked away, his system for naming his experiments should have been illegal. She put the lockbox back in storage and headed home for the night.

Once home and in bed, Lena found sleep easily. A long day at work and an even longer day in the lab had left her in dire need of rest. She had learned to ignore the call of bed throughout her life, but tonight she felt its call more than usual. When her eyes closed, the dreams had come almost instantaneously. The picture she saw was bursting with colour, and easily recognisable. It was her office. She was seated at her desk, and suddenly Kara had entered and was walking with purpose towards her. The girl leaned over the desk, coming face-to-face with her.

_“Stay with me.”_

Her voice was different, but the sound of it wrapped around Lena like silk and warmed her. In the dream, she closed her eyes. When they reopened, Lena was awake in her bedroom, the sun peeking through the curtains to dance across her sheets. She groaned softly, finally registering the pain she felt hit her head in waves.

Despite being puzzled over her dream, Lena went through her daily routine, but this time she added some aspirin. One pre-prepared smoothie later Lena was out the door in CEO attire, headed for the office. Her headache had softened only slightly.

Going up the elevator to her office had never been so painful. She clutched at the side of her head with her free hand, wincing through the stabbing pain. If she had to describe the feeling, it was like she was experiencing the entire building’s emotions all at once. Everything was attacking her, a moment of incredible sadness was rapidly replaced with confusion, and then intense happiness.

“Jess, cancel all my meetings and block all my calls today. This headache is killing me.” Lena walked past Jess and into her office, dropping her bag by the entry and settling at her desk.

The entire working day Lena was on edge. Rarely would she find herself in a moment of peace, where her head ceased to hurt, and she could think clearly. The next moment, however, Lena would find herself doubling over at her desk, clutching at her head and trying to fight the waves of emotions that she knew weren’t her own. By the time evening rolled around, Lena’s eyes were red and sore from wiping away tears she had shed for other people, her cheeks sore from smiling for someone else’s joy, and her hair a mess from holding her head in her hands. Jess had checked in on her once, but Lena successfully convinced Jess that everything was okay, and that she shouldn’t check up on her again. Whatever was going on with her, she could only rely on herself to get through it.

When someone knocked on the door, she almost screamed. She sat up straight at her desk, and suddenly could feel the person on the other side of the door. A familiar calm came over her. “Come in.”

The door opened and in stepped Kara, and Lena almost started crying on the spot. Seeing her best friend brought up an armada of emotions that were finally her own, and not someone else’s.

“Lena, are you okay?” Kara’s voice was distorted, and Lena could see the dream that had come to her last night overlapping with reality. All she understood from it, was that this moment in time had been set in stone. It was destiny for Kara to show up at her office at this time, wearing those clothes.

It all became a little too much, this time.

“Air, I need air.” Lena stood, leaning heavily on her desk before she was certain she could get upright without stumbling over herself. She made the three steps to the balcony door and pushed it open, stumbling out into the evening air. She leaned against the railing, taking deep breaths.

The whole city was trying to talk to her in a conversation she didn’t understand. The moment Kara placed a hand upon her shoulder, everything else slipped away and she could _feel_ Kara. Feel the emotions that swam within her best friend. Every single emotion. In that moment, the most prominent emotion Lena could feel, even taste in her mouth, was loss. It tore a sob from her chest and she buried her face in her hands, crying for the immense loss that Kara was feeling, but Lena couldn’t understand why.

Lena couldn’t feel Kara’s confusion, not when her loss was so strong. “Lena…” When Kara’s arms found their way around Lena, everything became clear. With her eyes closed and her face buried against Kara’s chest, the visions came clearly. A world bathed in red, explosions and catastrophic events unfolding as the planet became smaller and smaller underneath her. She sobbed for the little girl, the one who had lost everything. Lena now understood what it felt like to lose an entire world.

“Y-you’ve lost so much…” Lena muttered between sobs, clutching at the fabric of Kara’s shirt with both hands. “I-I… it hurts… so, so much!” She cried, her body shaking with the force of Kara’s emotions running through her. She couldn’t fathom how the girl could keep this much loss hidden from the world.

Kara’s hand stroked Lena’s hair, and Lena didn’t need to look up to know that Kara was crying too. Her tears had marked Kara’s shirt, but she couldn’t find space in her to regret, or feel sorry.

“Kara…” Her voice shook, “I can feel _everything_ and it’s _so much_.” She looked up at Kara, finally seeing the tears Kara had shed, and the one left hanging from her chin fell to Lena’s dress. Without warning, the loss disappeared and was replaced by something stronger, something Lena hadn’t seen coming. This feeling she wasn’t too familiar with, but it felt warm and wrapped around her, caressed her skin much like the evening air did.

“What can you feel now?” Kara asked, wiping at her eyes with one hand, the other still holding Lena close.

She couldn’t find the words to describe it. The power of the emotion had enveloped her in a warmth that Kara’s arms weren’t already providing. It filled her with uncertainty, and a shyness she didn’t usually possess. Whatever the emotion was, it was like a whole other being inside her, pushing her to be impossibly closer to Kara.

“Lena?”

Their lips collided and white hot heat erupted behind Lena’s eyes and shot down through her body. Kara’s hands were strong and possessive on her, and Lena felt everything Kara was feeling, unfiltered.

Love. Desire.

This emotion spanned over months, Lena could see its beginning, its creation and growth. The love that Kara had for her was so clear, and oh-so inspiring. Lena melted into the emotion and into Kara’s hold, lips moving together in a dance that was choreographed by the stars. She knew that Kara could feel it too, Lena relayed her own emotions to Kara through wherever skin met skin, and a balance was achieved.

They were pushed apart by an invisible force and Lena’s body sagged into Kara’s arms. The emotions running through her were healing, like a salve, flowing through memories and wounds, white hot but relaxingly so. This time, the tears weren’t for a loss that Lena didn’t understand, but a love she could finally comprehend.

“Lena, I know a place that can help, let me take you there.”

“Stay with me.” Lena’s voice was barely a whisper, wrought with emotion, hoarse from the day’s events. She knew, in her bones, that Kara would keep her safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many requested another chapter! I hope you enjoy :) (un-beta'd)

With her eyes closed, Lena took a moment to try and centre herself. It felt like a constant battle, trying to block out all the other emotions that clogged the air and at times made it especially hard to breathe. It had been hours since Lena and Kara had been standing together out on the balcony, hours since Lena had been able to experience her own emotions. In a way, feeling everyone else’s emotions was like when other people put words in your mouth. Lena had felt that one too many times during her lifetime.

However, it had been the longest 24 hours of her life. Between the experiment, the barrage of emotions, the splitting headaches and _Kara_ , she hadn’t been able to calm down completely. The fact that Kara had to go out as Supergirl, unable to stay by her side as the only thing that could ground Lena so far, wasn’t helping.

When her eyes opened, Lena flinched slightly when Alex’s face appeared in front of hers. “I think the medicine is working. My headache doesn’t hurt as much, but it’s still there.”

“Good. Kara should be back soon, but until then, Director Henshaw and I want to talk to you and try to figure out what’s going on with you.”

Lena hoped with every fibre of her being that everything wouldn’t be like this forever. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could go, feeling things that didn’t belong to her.

The DEO wasn’t what she expected. In all honesty, Lena had expected a bunker of some sort, not a skyscraper in the central business district. Then again, she didn’t remember much about getting there, everything was still a bit blurry. Right now, she was sitting in bed, tucked up in standard issue blankets to fight the cold and sharp environment of the medical bay.

“I won’t be able to rest any time soon, so ask away.” Lena scooted down the bed slightly, letting her head fall back onto the pillows. She blinked lazily, feeling for what must’ve been the hundredth time, a bunch of emotions pass through her. Determination, confusion, confidence, curiosity. It seemed everyone in the DEO had their personal lives locked down, they were here to do their jobs efficiently, and most of them were helping Kara while Alex and Director Henshaw spoke with her.

That same Director walked in, the automatic doors closing behind him and locking shut. The DEO medical bay could easily be a fortress, and Lena supposed that humans weren’t the only ones treated in such a place. “Lena Luthor, we’ve heard much about you.”

“I believe your organisation has helped save my life a handful of times. Thank you, for that.” Lena looked up at Henshaw, immediately feeling the apprehension within him. “Don’t worry, I’m not contagious. I think.”

“Agent Danvers ran some preliminary tests, and I’m glad to say that this isn’t a condition. It is in fact an ability that you’ll be able to get under control, and we’re here to help.” As soon as the words left Henshaw, Lena relaxed some more into the bed. Control, the one thing Lena had hoped for. She could work with control, having spent a lot of her life in control of some very important things, L-Corp included.

Alex moved to Lena’s side with a tool in hand, some sort of handheld scanning device. It reminded Lena of the alien detection device, which caused her to think about Kara. A feeling of regret for having almost sold it to the masses tore through her and Lena almost sobbed with joy that she had experienced an emotion of her own. “How are you feeling now?”

“I feel regret.” Lena closed her eyes and savoured the feeling as it warmed her limbs and brought a flush to her cheeks. Regret tended to garner this response. For Lena, regret and embarrassment came hand in hand. Regret in Lena tended to be caused from doing something wrong. “It’s good, I haven’t felt my own emotions in hours. I’ve felt the emotions of every single person in this building over and over ever since I arrived here.”

Henshaw looked concerned for a moment, but underneath that, there was understanding. “You’re an empath, and a very strong one. You’re able to feel the emotions of others around you. Some empaths can also force a person to experience a certain emotion. Sometimes, they can allow others around them to feel the emotion they personally feel.”

Hope planted a seed in Lena’s chest. She clutched at the sheets as a particularly harsh throb rocked through her head. She winced, but a hand on her shoulder sent a calming feeling through her. Next to her, Alex had offered up her emotional state for Lena to focus on. “Thank you.” She breathed, looking at Alex with sincerity. Lena wondered if Alex had done this before. When Alex’s hand withdrew, she was able to continue holding onto the emotion coming off Alex. It felt like a step forward.

“There are options to consider, for the duration of your training. You need to sleep, so I’m offering sedatives, or use of a cell fitted to block out everything. It’s up to you.” Henshaw stood at the foot of the bed, looking down at Lena with what could only be described as pure sympathy. Perhaps he knew what she was going through a lot better than anticipated.

“I’ll take the sedatives when I’m ready to sleep. I’d like to see Kara before then.” Both Alex and Henshaw approved with a nod.

Since the balcony, Lena had felt the loss that Kara had felt a couple more times. The emotion had stuck, it had been stronger than anything else so far. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and she hastily reached up to wipe them away, hissing softly when the pads of her fingers caused the irritated skin around her eyes to sting.

Then the entire emotional atmosphere in the DEO shifted. Confidence and relief flooded her body. It prompted Lena to sit up, and then Kara was walking in through the doors and heading straight over to Lena, taking up the one side of the bed that wasn’t occupied. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry for leaving, superhero duty doesn’t seem to stop. Is everything okay?” Kara’s rambling halted when Lena’s hand squeezed Kara’s particularly hard.

“I’m okay.” Her voice was small, small in comparison to the sheer volume of emotion coming off Kara in waves. It hit her, over and over, a cocktail of love, concern, and relief. “I’m okay now that you’re here.”

Everything seemed to settle and fall into place. Kara and Lena just stared at each other, at a loss for words due to the situation. Lena _knew_ Kara in a way neither of them had expected. This connected that had been created by Lena’s ability almost felt palpable. It was in the air, strong and sure. The sound of a throat being cleared snapped their focus.

“Sorry, were you saying something?” Lena asked Alex, looking between her and the Director, all while keeping hold of Kara’s hand.

“I’d just like to know what exactly caused this to happen.” Lena assumed Henshaw would like to find what had caused her to gain her ability and stop it from creating other empaths. She wouldn’t want this for anyone else, despite what advantages the ability could potentially provide once under her control.

“It was one of Lex’s experiments. I’ve been making my way through all of them in the L-Corp R&D lab. The box is labelled ‘Super Brain’.” She scoffed, and almost laughed when Director Henshaw rolled his eyes. She felt amusement come from Kara. “I’ll give you the codes so you can go and secure it.”

That seemed to please everyone in the room. She had expected more surprise at her willingness to divulge the information, but perhaps Kara had been talking her up more than she had originally thought. The idea of it sent a warm feeling all over, and she felt Kara’s fingers slip through the spaces between hers. Lena smiled gently up at Kara, and received a stunning smile in turn.

“Much appreciated. Before we leave you to rest, we want to run another test. For now, we also want to keep you under observation just in case.”

Lena shook her head, ignoring the stab of pain the movement sent down her spine. “I have a company to run.” She looked to Kara for support but instead was met with eyes full of concern. Their hands still entwined, Lena struggled to argue. “I…” She took a moment, a breath. “Fine. As long as you can stay with me.”

“Can I stay with Lena?”

Henshaw’s nod offered both Kara and Lena relief. After being alone for so long in the DEO, unable to leave her bed due to strict orders, had driven Lena crazy. One thought that hadn’t left her throughout it all was the kiss she had shared with Kara. It singlehandedly had taken first place for most emotional moment in her life. The seed of hope in her chest grew outwards, spreading warmth as it went.

“Lena, if you could just try and block everything out one last time for us…”

She closed her eyes and let go of Kara’s hand, trying her best to ignore the emotions she could feel. She tried to focus on one of her own emotions, but everything was fighting to hold dominance. Lena’s thoughts suddenly moved to her childhood, about how her life up until now had been so emotionally lacking. She was brought up in a cold and distant environment, where physical affection and emotions were shamed upon, the focus was always on intellect and social status.

Her head went quiet.

“Lena?” Kara’s voice was off to the left, but it sounded as if underwater.

“Quiet…” She said quietly, “It’s quiet.” Lena opened her eyes and everything came rushing back. She groaned, her head throbbing a few times before easing off. She took hold of Kara’s hand again, and looked to Alex. “I blocked everything, only for a moment.”

“That’s great. I just have to write a report and I’ll let you two relax.”

Lena wanted nothing more than to sleep peacefully, but Kara was right there, and she didn’t want the sedatives just yet. She absentmindedly played with Kara’s fingers, fitting her fingers through Kara’s gently, holding her hand tightly.

“I want to kiss you again.” Kara said softly, tightening her hold on Lena’s hand in return.

She looked up at Kara, “Why don’t you?”

“Why don’t I what?”

“Kiss me again.” Lena felt her face heat up slightly, unable to hide the blush that rushed to the surface.

“Lena I didn’t say that out loud…”

“What?” Lena was confused, “Did I… I hear your thoughts?”

Alex cleared her throat. “I won’t get Henshaw back in here, because I know you’re tired, but I think he might understand what’s going on. If you really think that you just read Kara’s mind.”

“Thank you.” Lena watched Alex leave, and suddenly it was just her and Kara. “I’ll try not to read your mind again. I… don’t know how I did that.”

Kara shook her head, “It doesn’t matter. I have nothing to hide from you. Not anymore.” She let go of Lena’s hand and carefully moved Lena over on the bed, getting under the blankets next to her. “Is this okay?”

“Yes.” Lena met those blue eyes, “It’s very okay.” She rested her head against Kara’s gently, holding her hand under the blankets, able to relax with Kara closer, pressed up against her side. “I’ve never… felt so much. Never in my life.”

“Can you feel everything I’m feeling?”

She nodded, “How do you do that? Push away all those bad feelings?”

“I’ve had to my entire life. But… everything I feel right now is more than strong enough to mask what lies underneath.” Kara pressed a kiss to Lena’s temple, wanting to make sure she knew her emotions were real, and that she was okay with acting upon them. “Now that you can feel other people’s emotions… you can feel how they feel about you. I’m positive these days, people feel more positively about you than you think.”

Lena smiled gently, relaxing further into the bed and further against Kara. She didn’t know what to say, Kara was good at leaving her speechless. The hero always saw the good in things, and in people, and Lena couldn’t find any points to argue.

“Aliens with mind reading abilities were never able to read my mind before. You’re the first.” Kara pointed out, finding herself confused over how Lena was able to read her mind. “How can you do that?”

“Can’t you feel it?” Lena lifted their joined hands, and ran the pad of her thumb over Kara’s knuckles. “The connection.” She whispered, “It’s barely palpable. I think that moment on the balcony… that’s where it was created.”

Kara closed her eyes, feeling Lena’s fingers between hers, almost able to feel a weight in her mind, and wondered if it was Lena. If she were, it felt good. It felt like reassurance, protection. “If that’s true, there’s no way I’m leaving you now.”

Lena was relieved to say the least. Feeling Kara’s love, her warmth, it calmed her. “I want to get all of this under control.” It would require patience, patience that she didn’t have, especially if her head was going to hurt this much until she could get it under control.

“I’m here to help. Whatever you need.” Kara cupped Lena’s cheek carefully, with her free hand. She pressed a soft, reassuring kiss on Lena’s lips. They both sighed into it, so relaxed that Lena didn’t even feel Kara put the IV drip into her arm.

The sedative started to work straight away, even though Lena didn’t want to sleep, now that Kara was there with her. She blinked heavily, gazing into Kara’s eyes. With every ounce of strength within her, she projected her emotions onto Kara, hoping she would feel how Lena felt. Love, adoration, trust. She told Kara, without words, just how strongly she felt. A tear fell down Lena’s cheek, and Kara was quick to wipe it away with her thumb.

Kara watched as Lena gave into the sedatives and slipped into a restful sleep. She pressed a kiss to Lena’s forehead, knowing everything would be okay, as long as they were together.


End file.
